"They're lovers," Mateo declared, studying the two men on Jake's laptop screen.
"What are you even basing this assumption on? Bucky just shot Steve."
"So maybe their foreplay is a little violent. Can't you see the way they look at each other? Bucky has his seductive gaze and Steve constantly looks like the heart-eyes emoji around him."
"Bucky doesn't even know who Steve is yet," Jake pointed out, still not convinced.
"But he likes what he sees. Who wouldn't? Chris Evans' shoulder-waist ratio makes me swoon."
"I prefer Scarlett Johansson."
"Forget that you're straight for just a moment and tell me which one you'd do. Steve or Bucky?"
"That is a ridiculous question," Jake protested, unable to conceive a world where he wouldn't be straight.
"I just want to know whether straight boys realize how gorgeous he is."
"Well... I'd choose Bucky then. I'm attracted to dark, brooding characters and Sebastian Stan does a pretty good job of playing one."
"Interesting. I thought you'd go for the golden boy for sure."
"Why?"
"You're too sheltered to understand tortured characters," Mateo answered, shugging.
"And you aren't?"
Mateo simply raised an eyebrow in response. This move conveyed the message that he didn't want to utter. Mateo's life differed from Jake's, as he had suffered more than Jake ever had. He had been forced to drop out of college to pay the bills his mother couldn't, while his father was in prison. Not only did he have a mental disorder, but he also lacked some of the resources required to combat it.
"Did you know there are quite a few people who ship Stucky?" Jake asked, trying to change the topic in order to make Mateo feel more comfortable. "Some of them even write fanfiction."
"Fanfiction?"
"Their own stories about Stucky, which they post online, most commonly on Archive of Our Own."
"Can you find smut on this website?" Mateo questioned, a wicked smile on his face.
"A lot of it."
Mateo made a pleased sound, reminding Jake of a purring cat.
"Please don't tell me you're going to read that."
"It would still be better than some of the Marvel movies."
"Age of Ultron was quite disappointing," Jake agreed.
"Reducing Black Widow to a love interest was where they lost me."
"There were a lot of problems with the movie. Using Pietro's death to shock viewers was a cheap move."
"Also, the lack of racial diversity, and using black men as sidekicks to escape criticism did not sit well with me," Mateo added.
"You know, when I invited you over to watch superhero movies, I did not expect to develop a hatred for some of them."
"Sorry, but not really. I'm just so used to seeing white, heterosexual people as superheroes that I can't help but complain. The comics have changed to get with the times but writers, directors and those who cast actors for movies still refuse to do the same."
"At least Deadpool is going to be depicted as pansexual in the movie as well," Jake commented.
He had been quite surprised to hear the news. He had assumed that the writers would avoid the topic of the hero's sexuality or write scenes that only depicted him as a straight character. The conversation with Colin that he'd had once came to his mind. Perhaps this movie could inspire other people to write characters that were diverse and had depth as well.
"I don't have high hopes," Mateo remarked, pulling Jake out of his dream and back to harsh reality. "I don't want to feel disappointed if they screw it up."
"I prefer to be optimistic about the matter. Anyway, do you want to watch X-Men and discuss Cherik?"
"I'm always ready to talk about gay subtext."
Jake smiled, glad that Mateo had stopped worrying about Mihir. After their visit to the bar, he'd dropped Jake outside his dorm. Apparently he hadn't gone home after this, but had circled around the hospital, resisting the urge to sneak in to meet his friend. The next morning (and the one after that), he was the first one to visit Mihir and the last to leave. He hadn't asked Jake to accompany him, which was worrying.
Initially, Jake had been convinced that he was disgusted by his confession and wanted nothing to do with him. He was certain that Mateo thought that he tolerated bigotry and was a coward. However, he had gathered the courage to call him and inquire about his absence. Mateo had confessed that he had been concerned about his friend's health and the return of some destructive habits of his own.
He had reluctantly agreed that isolating himself wasn't a good coping strategy. Jake made him promise to visit for another binge-watch Sunday and in return, he had promised not to play sad TV shows.
"I have your blanket!" Alicia exclaimed as she sauntered into the room, distracting Jake from his thoughts.
"Oh yeah, thanks," he replied, taken aback by her sudden appearance.
As he took the blanket from her, Shawn walked through the door. He was humming a song, but stopped when he spotted Mateo.
"I didn't know you had company," he said, narrowing his eyes at the outsider who was lying on Jake's bed.
"I haven't introduced you two, have I?" Jake asked, scrambling to his feet.
"You don't have to, Mateo Valdez doesn't need an introduction," Shawn drawled, holding a hand out for Mateo to shake.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Mateo questioned, grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly (much to Jake's surprise).
"I'm Shawn Carter, Jake's room-mate. We met once at a party, but obviously, you wouldn't remember that. There were far too many people there."
"Did it happen to be one of Vince's parties?"
"Yes! Nobody else I know throws parties like he does."
Shawn looked slightly less suspicious of Mateo upon discovering they had a common acquaintance, especially because he was someone that he approved of.
"Well, what are you doing here? Jake is hardly the partying kind," he noted, looking to his friend for clarification.
"We were watching movies," Jake explained, pointing at the laptop in front of him.
He knew that Shawn was asking him how the two of them had become friends, since he hadn't seen them together before. Jake hadn't mentioned the plan around his friends, because he was afraid of the reaction it would get. Laughter he could handle, but he had faced far too much criticism to be comfortable with more.
Besides, his friends had never been fond of Mateo or his friends. They were convinced that the group mocked them every time they walked by. Jake had suggested that his friends might have passed by when they were laughing about something else, but now he wasn't so sure. It was very likely that Mateo had used a variety of unflattering names for them at the time.
"That sounds boring. We were just going out for lunch with the rest of the gang. Why don't you join us?" Shawn offered, determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
"Uh—"
"We will, that sounds great," Mateo interrupted, beaming at him.
"Alright, we have to make sure the rest are awake, so we'll see you in fifteen minutes outside."
Once Shawn was out of earshot, Jake turned and hissed, "What the hell? Why did you agree?"
"Why did you want me to turn him down? I'd love to meet your friends."
Jake frowned at Mateo's poor attempt at sounding genuine. He knew that there was some ulterior motive behind his sudden desire to get to know his friends. He just couldn't figure out what it was.
"I have my eyes on you," Jake told him, jabbing his chest with two fingers to emphasize his point.
Mateo caught his hand and started to push the two fingers back slowly, until Jake was begging him to let go.
"There was no need for that," he complained, rubbing his hands when he was released.
"There was no need to poke me."
"We don't have time to argue. Help me clean."
The two picked up the empty popcorn bags that were scattered on the bed and stuffed them in the bin under Jake's desk. The bedsheet was dusted to get rid of any crumbs and the laptop was carefully placed in a drawer.
Mateo pulled a comb out from a pocket inside his jacket, and ran it through his hair before walking out. Jake gaped at him, but refrained from making a comment. The two met Shawn, Alicia, Nick and Colin at the entrance of the building. Colin smiled politely at Mateo, but Nick just stared until he was elbowed in the gut.
"Hey," he muttered, glaring at Colin.
Both Jake and Mateo greeted him at the same time, which further deepened his scowl. He refused to look either one of them in the eye when they spoke to the others. When the group started to walk towards a nearby restaurant that Alicia had picked, he made sure to walk a few steps ahead of them.
"What's his problem?" Jake whispered to Shawn.
"How should I know?"
"Of course, you've been too busy going on dates with Alicia."
"This isn't a date," Shawn asserted. "We're just going to eat at a restaurant with our friends."
"We're her friends too? When did that happen?" Jake questioned, pleased to see his friend fumble with words for the first time.
"We're here," Alicia announced, opening a door painted yellow (that had somehow escaped Jake's notice), saving Shawn from the merciless interrogation.
Mateo followed her as she walked through the entrance, but froze in his tracks a moment later, causing Jake to walk into him.
"What?" Jake snapped, irritated by the throbbing pain in his nose.
"Out of all the places she could've chosen," Mateo muttered, his eyes focused on the sight in front of him.
Jake peeked over Mateo's shoulder to see Linh standing in front of a table, talking to the couple seated there.
"This place has the best Vietnamese food," Alicia stated.
"That Linh makes," Mateo added, making sure that only Jake could hear his words. "You'll know whom to blame if I fall face-first onto my plate of poisoned food "
There was no time to respond to this ominous statement, as the group was led to a large, circular table. Once seated, the men picked up the menus placed in front of them, but found that they couldn't pronounce the names of any of the dishes. Alicia decided to order for them, as she couldn't bear listening to Shawn's attempts to do the same. Apparently, it made his attractiveness decrease significantly.
"The bánh cuốn is to die for," Alicia claimed.
"Literally," Mateo whispered, causing Jake to choke on the water he'd been sipping.
"You don't seem very concerned," Jake said, once he'd stopped coughing.
"I've resigned myself to my fate."
The food turned out to be delicious and devoid of poison. It distracted Shawn, so only a few questions were directed at Mateo. He did ask how he had met Jake, but Mateo was an excellent liar. He told him that he'd met Jake at his sister's album launch. The story was partly true, which helped Jake hide his unease.
He had never been comfortable with lying during his formative years, which is why he had to learn to bend the truth (instead of hiding it) to appease his conscience. Despite his elaborate attempts to get away with lies, he was often caught. This was because he had a tell. Every time he told a lie he didn't want to, a muscle under his left eye would twitch. His friends and family quickly caught on to this, and lying to them became quite a fruitless endeavour.
Just when Jake felt relieved at the possibility of escaping an awkward meal, Linh strode across the room towards their table. She smiled at Alicia and asked for her feedback on the dishes. The two had a short, friendly conversation before Linh turned to fix her cold eyes on Mateo.
"I didn't know that you'd made new friends, Mateo. Which one of them are you going to screw over?"
"Hopefully, none."
"Actually you already have," Nick cut in, unable to hide his anger. "You stole the girl of my dreams."
"Who are you talking about?" Mateo asked, bewildered. "I have stolen too many hearts to count."
"This isn't funny!" Nick's clenched fist hit the table, making the plates jump. "Her name was Corinne. I met her at a party and had spent all evening talking to her. She was mine and you just waltzed in, and took her away. You probably just fucked her and left her in the morning."
To Jake's surprise, Linh started to laugh. She laughed until tears appeared at the corners of her eyes. Mateo smiled as she took a few moments to compose herself before starting to speak.
"Corinne is asexual. She was also friends with Mateo at the time. He couldn't possibly have 'stolen' her from you. She probably just wanted to get away from the guy who was treating her like an object. Now if you're done with your meal, I'd like you to leave."
Nick glowered at her, but got up and stormed out the doors. Jake glanced at Mateo and noticed the look of gratitude on his face. Linh returned it with a tight-lipped smile, which filled Jake with hope. Perhaps all of Mateo's bridges hadn't been burned down.
Perhaps they only needed a little repairing.
-
Even if Captain ends up with a female romantic interest in Civil War, I will always believe that he was in love with Bucky (I mean, have you even seen the trailer??).
Hope you liked the chapter, and as always, remember to leave your thoughts!!